Previewing Syracuse's 2023-24 Guards
Syracuse basketball's season kicks off on Nov. 6 against New Hampshire at the JMA Wireless Dome.
We are doing a position-by-position preview to get ready for the season, and today, we begin with the Orange's guards, headlined by two potential NBA guards.
Cuffe is one of the more mysterious transfers into the Orange program, having spent two seasons at Kansas. The first was as a traditional redshirt, then he played all of six minutes last season before adding an injury redshirt to his resume.
Cuffe finished his high school career at Blair Academy as a fringe top-100 recruit, earning four-star rankings. His recruiting profile favors his athleticism as his top trait, feeding into his ability to succeed in an uptempo offense and highlighting his defensive upside.
Cuffe profiles as more of an undersized two-guard than a point who needs to continue developing his playmaking abilities and shooting, even though he did display an accurate 3-point stroke in the exhibition against Daemen.
Mintz’s freshman season realistically could not have gone much better, at least from a personal standpoint.
He showed early that he was a source of offense for the Orange, rattling off five straight games of at least 16 points to start the season, and finished second on the team in scoring at 16.3 points per game.
Despite his youth and slight build, Mintz was unafraid to get inside opposing defenses, scoring often at will in the paint with an assortment of finishes and floaters.
Of note is his listed height and weight this season jumping one inch and 13 pounds over last year’s numbers. The latter is the more noteworthy one, as is suggests Mintz is better prepared to withstand the consequences of those forays into the paint.
Mintz also established that he could operate as a set-up man as the season progressed, averaging 5.3 assists in the last 15 games after posting 4.1 per game the first 17 games.
The point guard led the team in free throws and steals, as well, leaving his three-point shooting as the biggest question in his game.
Being named to the preseason All-ACC Second Team means Mintz will be the top line on every opponent’s scouting report this season.
Starling returns home to continue his basketball career after spending his freshman season at Notre Dame.
The former McDonald’s All-American started 24 of 28 games for the Irish as a freshman, tallying double-digit points in 17 contests and averaging 11.2 points per outing.
Starling’s offense tailed off in ACC play before his season was eventually cut short after suffering shoulder and meniscus injuries.
His three-point shooting took the brunt of those injuries, as Starling closed the season shooting 4-for-24 from behind the arc.
That cold snap dropped him to under 30 percent on the season from three after shooting just under 35 percent from long range before then.
A dynamic driver and creative finisher, Starling will likely be tasked with becoming a better distributor and decision-maker, as his assist-to-turnover ratio last season with Notre Dame was 32-to-41, to help Mintz run the offense.
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